Alarm attachment for clocks.



H. W. GHRISTENSEN.

ALARM ATTACHMENT FOR CLOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14,1911.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

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HAWLEY W. CHRISTENSEN, OF MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS.

ALARM ATTACHMENT FOR CLOCKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 19;#

Application filed .Tune 14, 1911. Serial No. 633,103.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HAWLEY NV. CHRIS- 'rnxsnrn a citizen of the United States, residing at Monmouth, in the county of farren and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Alarm Attachments for Clocks, of which the following is a specification. ,Y

bThis invention relates to alarm clocks in general, and more especially to that type thereof wherein the rotation of the hand closes a circuit and rings a bell'by electrical means; and the object of the same is to produce such a clock having an independent and multiple alarm foreach hand and a single This object is accomplished by the construction hereinafter more fully described and claimed and as shown in the drawings wherein- .Figure l is a front elevation of a clock case-which is made of wood or other nonconductor of electricity. v broken away to show the metal disk which is secured' to said case out of contact'with the metallic parts of the clock movement, and indicatingalso the electric circuit and the alarm. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the dial with some of .the

pegs in place, and showing also the hands j with one of them just passing over thepeg.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section through aportion of the wooden case, the disk secured thereto, the tube or bushing through the case, a plugtherein, a section through the dial, and a hand just passing over the plug. Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the two styles ofA plugs. Fig. 5 is a plan ofamodified form of disk. Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 3 showing the disk illustrated in Fi 5 and further showing a modified form ofushing.

In the drawings the letter C designates a clock case which has no particular construction excepting that it must be of wood or some other non-conductor of electricity, and D is the dial of a'n ordinary clock having hands H as usual, it being understood that the hands and clock movement are made of metal. The letter B designates a battery of two cells, and the letter A is an alarm here indicated as a bell wired up to said battery. All these features may be of any desired construction and -form no essential part of the present invention.

The numeral 5 designates a metallic disk, preferably of tin, provided around its edge with two circles 6 and 7 of sixty holes each,

the holes in each circle being one minute lapart. Instead of the disk I may employ the metallic annulus 23 shown in Fig. and this annulus may be secured in the same manner as the disk 5. The dial D is provided with similar and registering circles of holes 16 and 1T. The disk 5 is secured as by screws 3 to the inside of the wooden caso C of the clock'andover and in exact register with the dial but out of contact with it or with any metallic part of the clock movement. 'The dial in turn is secured to the opposite side of the wooden casing of the clock which is bored with holes that communicate with those in the dial and in the disk, and tubes or bushings 8 of brass or other suitable metal are passed through the holes and upset at their extremities. Or, as shown in Fig. 6 the bushings 24 may have their outer endsrolled and their inner ends split so as to be readily clenched against the face arecalso provided with registering central holes 9 for the passage of the arbors of the hands and holes l0 through which projects the winding shaft. Neither of these, nor the hands themselves, either the dial or the disk, and the hands should be extremely flexible at their tips for a purpose which willfa'p'pcar below.

' In Fig. 4 are shown the plugs which are by preference of brass and of a size to it within the tubes or bushings 8. These are respectively long and short and numbered 1l and' 12, each having a rounded head 13 and a shoulder 14. From the clock mechanism M a wire 20 leads to the alarm A, from the latter a second wire 21 to the battery B, Aand from the battery a third wire 22 leads to the disk 5. I have herein shown a battery of two cells'connected by a fourth wire 25, but it will be understood that in some cases one cell will be suilicient. The battery cells may be of any type, but I have shown dry cells because they a e suiiiciently small to stand within a clock case of ordinary size and of suliicient power to actuate the average bell alarm A.

In the use of this improved device, the clock is wound and run as usual when the pegs are not inserted. If it be desired to cause an alarm to sound at a. certain point in the hour, a shorter peg ll is inserted in one of the inner circle of holes 1 6 and it passes into the tube or bushing 8 which connects this hole with the hole 6 in the dist: 5 immediately below.

If it is desired to comes into contact with llt) sound an alarm on a minute, a longer plug 12 is inserted in one of the outer holes 17 in the sume way. The hour hand being shorter and lying nearer to the dial D will in its passage over the plug 11 make contact with its head 13, whereas the minute hand will pass above and out of contact with it; in similar manner the minute hand will make contact only with the head of a longer plug 12, Whereas the hour hand is too short to reach it. Either hand makes a wiping contact With the head of a brass plug, sounds the alarm for a moment, and passes on beyond the plug, when the alarm ceases. Tracing the circuit from the alarm A, it passes first to the battery, thence to the disk 5, through the plugs, to the hand when the latter makes contact-With the plug, to the clock mechanism M, and back through the wire 2O to the alarm. Itis my purpose to provide this alarm attachment for use with several plugs of each'length so that when several alarms are to be rung at certain intervals the plugs can be properly inserted in either circle of holes. For instance in plating rooms Where articles are to be plated for a certain number of minutes in hospitals Where medicine must be given every so often, or Wherever anything must be cooked just so long, it is frequently desirable to sound an alarm at the beginning and another at the close of the period, or to sound an alarm at regular intervals. These may be controlled by setting the pegs as the necessities of the case may'deinand. 1f one should desire to use a clock te awaken him in the morning, he uses a hole in the inner circle and sets the plug to make contact vvith the hour hand only. The shoulders on the plugs are to prevent them from being inserted so far in the holes or bushings that their heads Will not stand in proper osition to be struck by the tips of the han s.

iVhat is claimed as new is The combination with a clock mechanism including hour and minute hands, and a clock casing of non-conducting material, and a dial secured to the outer surface of said casing and having concentric circles of openings, of an alarm secured to said casing, a metallic annulus of a diameter equal to that of said dial and arranged in contacting engagement with the opposite face of said casing and provided With concentric circles of' openings registering with the openings of said dial, a plurality of metallic tubes extended through said registering openings, a long and short plug for insertion in the different circles of openings and over which slides the said minuteand hour hands respectively for sounding an alarm, a battery `Within said casing, and an electric circuit including said clock mechanism, hands, plugs, and metallic annulus in series as described.

1n testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HAWLEY W. cHRis'rENsEN.

i/Vitnesses E. H. BREWER, 

